Now this may seem a bit soon to be starting a review but I figure that the beginning is the most important because it sets the stage for the rest of my time here. But after this I will probably only be doing a review of Full Sail ever 3-6 months. (which is 6 -12 classes). So the first day was, well a bit lame. It was just registration and some sort of odd party thing for Full Sail to show off their clubs which could have been fun but it kind of felt like a science faire mixed with a club. But I met 3 Filmmakers that day and we already began working on a video for Film Riot's Monday Challenge.The Second day they started some more interesting things such as workshops which was probably the best part of Orientation. We had some workshops on Goals, Adobe basics (Photoshop and Illustrator) and some Mac Basics (which for the most part I already knew). So we also got our laptops. Decked out MacBook Pros (i7, 16GB Ram, Iris Pro Graphics). It's pretty sweet and the battery (almost) lasts forever. Maybe I'll do a Review on that later too. Unfortunately one thing they don't tell you is that while you get the laptop in the beginning of your program, you don't get the software until the classes you need them in, which is typically decently into the program.

So my experience so far has been decent and it keeps getting a little better. But

Now this advice comes from his creative live course (which is $129), however the section on "writing your story" comes free. You can watch it here. Please note that these aren't direct quotes they are just notes I wrote down from the 30 minute video.

"Put yourself in a Box."

This may make no sense. Writing has an infinite amount of possible stories, why would I want to limit myself. However you may find that starting with something small like. The fact that it has to take place in one room or something (like Film Riot Monday Challenges) like Steven Spielberg or a Shootout, will make it much easier to come up with the rest of the story details. So just start with one thing.

"Outline, then Research"

If you do outlines, Researching after doing the outline will help you with how events should happen or even help fill in plot holes.

"Don't only write what you know, then there would be no Star Wars or Hobbit, But Only write about emotions that you have experienced or at least know a great deal about."

"Dialog- don't use exactly what people say."

Often time when we write dialog, we write it as exactly what the characters mean but in real life, we lie and have (tons of) Sarcasm. So better Dialog is often times less straight forward.

"Use setups and Payoffs"

What is a Setup? One example of a setup is in Batman Begins. Bruce Wayne opens his suitcase to reveal a gun (setup), so that when we see the man who murdered his parents get shot, we believe that Bruce did it at first. (Payoff)

There's a lot more to learn in the free 30 minutes, But I bet that the whole thing is pretty good, but it seems a bit much for me.

I know what your thinking, that sounds pretty harsh, but it's true. There are thousands of "filmmakers" making tens of thousands of films. You may not really understand this if you don't go to a film school because you'll look around and absorb the Demo Reels of other students and wish that yours was that good. It's kind of odd coming from a small town and now to a big town and notice that your not the best anymore. You may be good, but so are other people. You need to specialize a little more. What exactly can you exceed above others at. Just some words for thought.

Editing your favorite TV shows can be quite fun and help you learn alot about the techniques they used to create the pacing and editing style. So I decided to edit together several death scenes in Breaking Bad with the song Feeling Good by Michael Buble.

Many of us frown whenever someone uses a smartphone to take a picture or to make a video (usually in the ugly portrait mode), however you may change your mind after seeing this video comparison of the 5DmkIII and the OnePlus One.

The OnePlus One shoots 4k (which is probably why it has so much more detail) and even 720p at 120fps. At the low price of $299, this is a great smartphone for video shooting. However they have quite an odd invite system so before you get too excited check that out here.[via cinema5d]

As I am on vocation as usual that comes with an immense amount of eating out. And I was thinking about how if I was a chef, I would only use foods I liked in my dishes. For example I wouldn't use mushrooms in my food because I don't like mushrooms. I learned of my dislike for mushrooms by eating dishes with mushrooms in it. I think that the same goes for filmmaking.

In filmmaking we use multiple elements such as pacing and comedy types. Theses are like the types of foods, we find our favorite elements from other movies just like chefs find their favorite foods from other peoples dishes. I think this is what makes a good filmmaker. Some one who has a define opinion on the types of filmmaking elements. This is what makes filmmakers like Steven Spielberg and Tarantino so good they have very define "styles" that even if you don't like their style, you still have to appreciate it. Similarly just because you don't like,say onions, doesn't mean you can't appreciate a dish with onions in it.

My final comparison between chefs and filmmakers is that both start with the same elements like tomatoes/comedy and maybe making the same types of movies/dishes (ex. Action movie/pizza) you'll still come out with a different end product because of your opinions on movies you've seen before.

After a while of just letting this story sit on my computer, I decided that I should release the book as an ebook for free. Maybe I could have sold it or something but, the truth is that making lots of money off this book wasn't my goal, it was just to work on my writing skills and I think that they have definitely improved due to this book. If your into scifi/Post Apoc books.... I hope you at least check it out. It kind of has a Game of Thrones Vibe so... Here it is! link - gum.co/wGGk **Note in order to download for free simple enter $0 in the "Name a fair price:" Section But I also appreciate donations **

Recently there have been A LOT of sales on very popular cameras such as the Canon 7D (1,500 to 1000), FS100 (now 2,500), and the very popular Blackmagic Pocket Camera (1000 to 500). This very odd; Canon, Sony, Blackmagic. All of the main camera manufactures. It could be a response to the new GH4 but these were the top selling cameras. Especially the Pocket Camera which was basically the best selling camera on B&H for months. Perhaps it may have something to do with Canons rumored release of the 7D mkII. But Unless the 7D mkII has Raw video, It may impact Blackmagic very little. So maybe Blackmagic is also planning a new camera (nothing new). But that was one of the reasons I decided to NOT buy a Pocket Camera. The Decision for Blackmagic to lower the cost of the Pocket didn't make any sense to me. This may sound like a conspiracy but I thinking, hoping Canon has something up their sleeves. Otherwise they may even fall behind even JVC.

Everyone Says that Real Effects look better than CGI and that's certainly true with particles. Today, I have released Some Dust Particles Alpha Footage for Free. You can download it bellow. But, hey sorry I haven't been writing much recently, I've been getting ready to go off to Full Sail University. Yep I decided to go. More about that in a later article.

or you can watch the tutorial by Andrew Kramer and make your own Particle Effects with some flour.

Zachary Will

Zachary Will is an Award-Winning Filmmaker creating short films and content for the Internet as the owner of Riverside Studios. He has a Bachelor's in Film from Full Sail University. He has worked on productions for companies like Webmd, Sears, Home Depot, Six Flags and more!﻿